VentureBeat has estimated sales figures for the just-released Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft by way of investment bank Lazard Capital Markets, where they estimate the MMORPG expansion has sold between 600,000 and 700,000 copies at retail since launching this week. This estimate does not include digital sales, but they add that "Lazard analysts believe Pandaria's digital sales won't make up for its poor retail performance." Word is: "Historically, each new World of Warcraft expansion has outsold its predecessors, Lazard said, but sales of Pandaria are down 60 percent from the previous expansion pack, Cataclysm, which has sold 3.3 million units since its launch in December 2010."

It's only Actiblizz and their monetize everything mantra that keeps this churning out like a factory now.

Normally I find you a tad over-cynical in many respects but I think in this case you absolutely nailed it. Who would have envisioned Blizzard becoming a soul-less passion-less cash factory ten years ago?

As I recall, quite a few people did when the merger with Activision was announced. It just took awhile for it to really sink in.

I give it another year before the people at Bioware also go "Oh... shit." (sorry, slightly OT there.)

I think it also helped that the digital bits in this expansion were pre-loaded into everyone's client weeks ago so buying the digital version was even more instant gratification on release day.

I've still resisted buying it though because I'd rather play other new (and old) games: TL2, X-com soon, and Thief2/SS2 with the awesome Win7 patches. And then there are the google play store .25 app deals this week too!

It's only Actiblizz and their monetize everything mantra that keeps this churning out like a factory now.

Normally I find you a tad over-cynical in many respects but I think in this case you absolutely nailed it. Who would have envisioned Blizzard becoming a soul-less passion-less cash factory ten years ago?

It's actually not that far off base when you consider how they structured releases 10 years ago. With StarCraft, Diablo 2, and WarCraft 3 especially... the core games were, to put it bluntly, not that great. All three series didn't really mature until their respective expansions were released, most of which had the features that were announced by eventually cut from the vanilla games. So, essentially, even a decade ago, Blizzard was "monetizing" by nearly forcing people to buy expansions to get a "complete" game. Don't get me wrong, they were (and still are) amazing games that deserve their spots in gaming hall of fame, but withholding (and I really hesitate to call it that) content is a part of their pre-ActiBlizz history.

n3farious wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 21:03:Fuggin trolls. I'm sick of the kung fu panda references. The 'Pandas' have been part of the lore long before either movie came out.

I imagine most people either don't know or wouldn't remember this but the whole panda thing happened because Samwise Didier posted a drawing he had done of a samurai panda on the WarCraft 3 beta forums. The forum loved it and asked for more. Then it became an April Fool's joke. Then the brewmaster was added WC3:TFT. To say they were always part of the lore is a stretch, they started as a joke, which should tell you something about this xpac.

This doesn't mean much. Cataclysm was the first WoW expansion you could buy digitally, so retail was a much bigger deal. Now though, almost everyone is buying directly from Blizzard, digitally.

Stand in some bullshit line with smelly people, or push the button that gives you the game instantly? EZ choice. Unfortunately this means there is no reliable way to get sales numbers that are even remotely accurate for this title.

Every time you preorder a game, you become part of the problem. Don't be part of the problem.

n3farious wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 21:03:Fuggin trolls. I'm sick of the kung fu panda references. The 'Pandas' have been part of the lore long before either movie came out.

Maybe they shouldn't have a giant fucking panda as the mascot for the expansion then. The pandaran were an amusing offshoot in the RTS games, not something I want them to build an expansion around in an MMORPG. The lore excuse is wafer thin, there are dozens of more suitably fleshed out locales and races. This is pandering to the casuals, too bad for Blizzard those people are dicking around with Facebook games and cellphones now.

Seriously though, I played WoW for a long time and this bright, beautiful place with jolly fat pandas holds next to no interest for me. There were a lot more interesting places to go and a lot more interesting things to fight.

n3farious wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 21:03:Fuggin trolls. I'm sick of the kung fu panda references. The 'Pandas' have been part of the lore long before either movie came out.

Second, since the family and I all play, I purchased 5 copies of the digital version, and none of the physical. So, I contributed heavily to the 'poor retail performance'. The queue of 1200 players during prime times tells me that I'm not alone.

Finally, the expansion is very well executed. The artwork, engine upgrades and story lines are all phenomenal. Is the game dumbed-down for the masses from the old Molten Core 40 man raids? Sure. Are there a lot of usability enhancements which have been made to keep Blizzard's offering current with competition? Absolutely. Is the game worth playing? My monthly subscription says yes.

Fuggin trolls. I'm sick of the kung fu panda references. The 'Pandas' have been part of the lore long before either movie came out.

Second, since the family and I all play, I purchased 5 copies of the digital version, and none of the physical. So, I contributed heavily to the 'poor retail performance'. The queue of 1200 players during prime times tells me that I'm not alone.

Finally, the expansion is very well executed. The artwork, engine upgrades and story lines are all phenomenal. Is the game dumbed-down for the masses from the old Molten Core 40 man raids? Sure. Are there a lot of usability enhancements which have been made to keep Blizzard's offering current with competition? Absolutely. Is the game worth playing? My monthly subscription says yes.

Fuck you it won't... it is an expansion.. an expansion that you don't even need the dvd that comes with it for. you pay $39 bucks from a credit card.. and boom your in. No pre download.. no wasting gas.. nadda.

It's only Actiblizz and their monetize everything mantra that keeps this churning out like a factory now.

Normally I find you a tad over-cynical in many respects but I think in this case you absolutely nailed it. Who would have envisioned Blizzard becoming a soul-less passion-less cash factory ten years ago?

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Fibrocyte wrote on Sep 27, 2012, 20:28:Meh, I purchased it since I own all the other xpacks. My wife likes WoW so we re-subbed to try MoP.

Honestly, it feels lack luster to both of us. It could be the xpack or it could be we're just done with WoW once and for all.

Well, what did you expect? I'm sure even the WoW team is just sick of the game by now and they're doing it all by the numbers. It's only Actiblizz and their monetize everything mantra that keeps this churning out like a factory now. Everyone knows WoW is in rapid decline and this just seals it. Guess it'll be time to trot out Titan in the new year.

“That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!”